Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia’s National Amil (collector and distributor) Zakat Agency (Baznas) has set a target of collecting Islamic alms (zakat, infaq, and sadaqah/charity) and other religious social funds nationally to reach 26 trillion rupiahs (some 1.8 billion U.S. dollars) by 2022.

"In 2022, Baznas nationally has a target of collecting 26 trillion rupiahs," Baznas chairman Noor Achmad said here on Wednesday (Jan. 5).

He detailed that the figure is expected to come from the Zakat Collection Organization (OPZ) of the Central Baznas of 760 billion rupiahs, the provincial Baznas of 2.12 trillion rupiahs, the district/city Baznas of 6.94 billion rupiahs, and the Amil Zakat Institution (LAZ) of 16. 17 trillion rupiahs.

The target is obtained by calculating the average value of the three components, namely the percentage of 2019 collection, 2020 collection, and the percentage of potential zakat of provinces and districts/cities.

The 2022 target figure is up from the 2021 achievement of 11.5 trillion rupiahs (about 800.5 million dollars).

Noor noted that in 2021 Baznas recorded the distribution ratio of Islamic alms and charities at 82 percent of the total collections.

The funds were distributed through a number of programs targeting the Muslim scholars, Islamic boarding schools, orphans, as well as to finance various businesses and disaster recovery programs.

Meanwhile, the remaining 2021 funds will be distributed in January 2022.

About 88 percent of Indonesia’s population (270 million people) are Muslims, making the fourth most populated nation worldwide the largest Muslim country globally.

Reporting by Indonesia Window